Kim
Landry, insurance research analyst at LIMRA, says it’s not surprising that more
than eight in 10 employees focus on cost information when selecting their benefits
during open enrollment.
Seventy-two
percent of employees surveyed said they will look at detailed benefit plan
descriptions when available. LIMRA asked employees what communications they valued
most when selecting their benefits.
In
terms of how they want to learn about benefit options, employees are most
likely to use printed materials at work (83%) or home (76%). Accessing the
information online (70%) and by email (61%) were used slightly less often. “While
printed materials may be more effective at capturing their attention, employees
we interviewed also liked having access to benefit information online,” says
Landry.
Seventy-one
percent of employees attend group meetings about benefits when offered. However,
employees said they find group meetings less useful than nearly every other
form of communication. “Employees express concerns such as discomfort about
asking personal questions in a group, too much time devoted to other workers’
questions, and confusion about the material,” says Landry. “Employees said
one-on-one meetings were the most useful to them.”
About
half of employees surveyed recall having access to decision-support tools to
help make choices about their benefits. The tools most often used allow
employees to make side-by-side comparisons and calculate costs or insurance
needs. Other, more interactive tools offer tailored recommendations based on questions
that employees answer. “Employees told us these interactive tools were the most
useful to them,” says Landry.
Because employees are
likely to have benefit questions at any point during the enrollment period,
they want a place to go for answers. Most cited assistance from HR staff or a
phone number to call as important resources for their questions. Landry says
employees who have these resources available are more likely to feel confident
in their benefit selections.
As
a result of enhancements to the company’s suite of digital retirement readiness
capabilities, participants in many Voya-administered plans will be able to
visualize and understand—as soon as they enroll online in the plan—how their
savings decisions translate into future monthly retirement income.
In
addition, existing participants will benefit from new functionality that lets
them factor Social Security and health care costs into their retirement
planning decisions.
“Voya
Financial is committed to helping Americans plan, invest and protect their
savings so they can get ready to retire better, and this includes the critical
point at which they first enroll in their workplace savings plan,” says Charlie
Nelson, CEO of Retirement at Voya Financial. “Participants must make a number
of key decisions when they join a plan—such as how much to contribute each pay
period and what they need to save to meet their future monthly income goals in
retirement. In order to make plan enrollment a more informed and effortless
process, we’ve revolutionized the experience by connecting enrollment to the
broader concept of retirement income goals. We’ve also added in unique features
that let customers easily see and elect a contribution rate that gets them to
their full company match, or which aligns to their peers who are potentially on
track for a secure retirement.”
Findings
from the Voya Retire Ready Index show, of those workers who were participating in an employer-sponsored
retirement plan, one-third (33%) chose to save up to the amount their employer
would match. One-in-five (20%) saved an amount that was determined
automatically by their employer, while a slightly smaller group (17%)
contributed up to the maximum amount allowed by the plan. Nearly one-in-three
(29%) said they used “some other method” to determine their contribution rate.
NEXT: A unique enrollment experience.
Christine
Lange, head of Digital Solutions at Voya in Windsor, Connecticut, tells
PLANSPONSOR participants need to start thinking about the goal of retirement
income from the moment they enroll in a defined contribution (DC) plan. Voya is
rolling out next month a new way to enroll. Participants will input some
personal information then set goals, such as the age they desire to retire and
their desired income replacement rate. They can also input how much they have already
saved elsewhere.
“It’s
not motivating to say, ‘You need $6 million to be able to retire. It’s more
motivating to say, ‘Here’s what monthly income you will need, here’s what you
may already have, and this is the gap,’” Lange says. The enrollment page shows
what retirement income can be achieved at a 6% deferral rate, but employees can
use sliders to increase or decrease that amount. “They are not looking at $108
taken out of their paycheck, they are seeing that $108 plus match and earnings
will equal as a monthly amount in retirement,” Lange notes.
Employees
can click for more details that show how much of the estimated income comes from
Social Security, how much from savings, and how much from match. There is an “I’ll
Go With These Choices” button for employees to enroll at the savings amount and
in the default investment fund shown on that page.
However,
Lange notes that employees can look into more options. They can see what “people
like you” that are on track to achieve retirement income goals are deferring.
They may also go to an investment options page that shows different tiers of
investments—do-it-for-me, guided based on risk or retirement date, and do-it-yourself.
The
employee is returned to the first page showing the impact of her options on
retirement income, and she can click on ‘I’ll Go With These Choices’ to enroll.
A
“before you go” page reminds employees if they are leaving employer match on the
table and offers them the ability to set up auto deferral increases. There are
options to set up beneficiaries and help employees consolidate assets into the
plan.
NEXT: New participant website capabilities.
The
Voya Retire Ready Index found that more than six-in-ten (61%) workers were
significantly concerned about their inability to pay for health care expenses
in retirement. A majority (58%) were also significantly concerned that they
would end up with fewer Social Security benefits than expected, yet almost half
(45%) planned to rely on Social Security as a major source of their income in
retirement. Adding to the challenge, two-thirds (66%) of workers planned to
start taking Social Security at age 66 or younger—possibly missing out on the
opportunity to collect their maximum benefit.
“We
want employees to have a visual picture of retirement income,” Lange says. “They
log in [to the participant website] and see they have a goal on the first page;
it helps them understand the purpose of the retirement plan.” The website uses
70% income replacement as a starting point, and employees can use a slider to
change that goal. They may also input other savings such as from an individual
retirement account (IRA) or pension, selling a home or their spouse’s savings.
Lange
says Voya has found health care is a mystery to most people. Website users can
click on a health care in retirement tab and a blue overlay shows them how much
money health care will take from their retirement income. Employees choose their
age and state of residence; Voya worked with its adviser network to get data
about health care in retirement. Users may also view a video and find information
to read about Medicare.
Users
may also click on a Social Security tab and find sliders of expected retirement
age and age the employee plans to start claiming Social Security. The tool
shows the impact of taking Social Security early, Lange notes.
NEXT: A differentiator for Voya.
According
to Lange, the website shows employees how they are doing, how to do better, and
what to change to reach their goals. They use sliders to show the impact of
changing savings percent, date of retirement and investment returns on
retirement income. A “Make Change Now” button allows them to implement the
changes showing on the screen easily.
Lange
says that after participants used the website enhancement, 85% indicated they
now know where they stand in attaining their retirement income goal, 84% know what
steps to take to improve, and 70% are happy, confident or optimistic about
their retirement. Of those that have used the website, 25% have taken action
and increased contributions by 15% in any given quarter.
The
new enrollment, Social Security and health care features will be accessible on
mobile devices later this year. “We intend to tell folks to bring their mobile
devices to enrollment meetings and get them started interacting with the plan
online,” Lange says.
Nelson
tells PLANSPONSOR, “I don’t know of any other source that participants have to
use sliders and see this visually—to engage and see the impact. It will both
engage advisers with participants as they look at this together, and plan
sponsors with participants through the enrollment experience.”
Nelson says this is just
a part of Voya’s focus on digital solutions. “When I joined, Voya announced more broadly an initiative to invest about $350 million in the next four years in
a variety of initiatives—digital is one. It extends to mobile and other
technology than myOrangeMoney website changes,” he says. “I’ve been thoroughly
impressed with where Voya is with digital solutions and have put it on the roadmap
for development on both the participant and plan sponsor level. It’s a very
important part of our differentiators in the future.”